French and Saunders

I was disappointed when I saw one of their last ever live shows together last year. I wanted to root for them but found my laughter ever more forced and eventually allowed the mirth to come from others. Having paid over £30 for tickets, I was not amused that they went into the audience to steal our sweets and then project cheesy but embarrassing pictures (such as having nits) onto a large screen. The show's theme was competitiveness over their solo careers, culminating in a giant Vicar of Dibley boasting of her higher viewing figures.

Indeed their solo work is often better. Although it began on a then topical subject - the controversial allowance of women to be ordained - The Vicar of Dibley suffers from the scathing and crude pen of Richard Curtis, who is making unorthodox sexual practices and putting down Geraldine's loyal friend Alice as part of the family amusement.

Absolutely Fabulous took me a while to take to, but I began to realise what a social snapshot Jennifer Saunders took. She captures the public crazes for rebirthing to adopting Romanian babies, to the snobbery of West London. But as a retuning series, there were ongoing relationships which were the real appeal, beyond the gags. it's the sad dynamic between 4 generations, where grandma can't be alone with her daughter; and when Edie becomes a gran she knows no other way to show the child love than to cover a rocking horse with money. It is the anger from Patsy at Sapphy's existence spoiling her hedonism and being a pull away from her friendship with Edie. It is that Sapphy's rebellion against her hippy and disorganised mother is to be sensible and to often look after her mum.

I enjoyed their sketches that lampooned something already familiar. Looking through YouTube's French and Saunders clips, I realised that the laughs come often from how alike French and Saunders appeared to their subject. In Jennifer's case, it is the amusement of how uncannily similar she can appear to Kate Winslet in Titanic or Bea in House of Eliott. Dawn's laughs come from how dissimilar she is to Evie Eliott, Jack Dawson, Edward Scissorhands or Bjork, although all the trappings right. Therefore the credit ought to go to the art, makeup and hair departments for recreating so well - and to the music composer who often makes an original song sound much like the score to what is being laughed out without replicating it.

Often there is an initial premise which is funny - such as the Alanis Morrisette video with Jennifer in a bodysuit in public places with a wayward hair patch which grows and slithers away - but once the idea is conveyed, the ongoing sketch grows dull. They seem to be as busy muttering to themselves as they accused the Corrs sisters, and relying on the laugher of their audience to cover them. Perhaps the warning for all comedians is not to go into you own world. Often that is what these and others do - and the laughs exclude the audience they are trying to attract.

I have laughed many times over the 10 year since their Titanic take off. It was not just the scenes from the movie but the many documentaries about how the blockbuster was made that French, Saunders and Joanna Lumley incorporate into this hilarious mockumentary. What made this funny was that they took what we expected and is familiar and mixed it with what is incongruous. After commenting astutely on the portrayal of th Irish, Jack and Rose end up dancing with two leprechauns. But again, they often they labour their point. After showing director James Macaroon/Cameron's alleged reputation for swearing and shouting on set, they continued that too far. I note this parody is not included in the collectors' boxset of the film.

The two women who are extras in Titanic and who are a vehicle for more prudish views also appear on Tippin' O the Velveteen, on the 2002 BBC dramatisation of Sarah Water's Victorian lesbian novel. The premise here is the sex scenes, which are actually a small amount of the story and screentime. Reading viewers' online comments about the much hyped 3 part serial, many were not shocked and wondered what the fuss was, preferring to focus their views on the rest of the drama. French and Saunders like may gave their attentions to the Kitty affair which is the first 3rd of the story and one of as many romances for music hall performer Nan King. French and Saunders were far more pornographic than the drama, and leave out the love story. From the older ladies' comments it sounds as if French and Saunders saw Tipping the Velvet as a repetitive vehicle for porn on mainstream television, and hinted (as in the Titanic sketch) at a little homophobia.

When French and Saunders meet other celebrities in their show, I am embarrassed and how ridiculous and poorly acted French and Saunders become, as if they really are overwhelmed by the presence of The Spice Girls or the cast of House of Eliott. That sketch shows again how an idea is milked too much. There were too many shots of the exterior of the 1920s fashion house and not much funny happening; Bea's husband Jack entered the office too many times to be turned down for work.

Two excellent sketches are Irish family band The Corrs, where Jim is sidelined from his identical beautiful sisters' songs; and the last one for this year's Comic relief. Again, they took a blockbuster whose extras are as much watched as the actual movie, and laughed and cast as well as crew - the difficult name of the inexperienced director; the producer and writer who've made money out of commandeering a very successful group's songs and tying them together very loosely and tenuously. It was a great note to end on - better than the song at the end of the live show which meant something to only them.

It does seem right that the long and successful career of these friends has been concluded.

Why do a pair of middle aged women dress up as teenagers?!

The last French and Saunders series I saw was full of writers' block and procrastination. When one finds that you're televising that, you know it's time to stop.